Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hurricane Ike shared some of his glory with us this weekend. The Chicago area had record rainfall- the most ever since they started recording in 1800something. You don't really notice rain so much until you realize it just hasn't stopped or even slowed down in more than 24 hours!

This didn't stop Bryan and Aaron from running the half-marathon this morning though. But it did stop me from taking very many pictures, partially to save my camera from getting drenched and partially out of complete crabbiness about standing in the freezing rain for 3 hours! Wet jeans are NO fun. But they did a great job, and hopefully this race helped in the preparation for the real marathon in October.Here is Bry right before the race:

This is Bryan finishing, but all you can see is his white/tan hat. Great photography, don't you think? After we dried off and warmed up, we thought we'd join the rest of Riverside in gawking at all the flooding. This is the gazebo on the corner by our house: Here we are on a street that Bryan often runs on, flooded up from the river, through the park, and into the driveways of the houses across the street. Bryan is currently calling Ryan to share the drama. The Riverside/Brookfield photographer was actually there at the same time as us, and you can see us in picture #5 here. This is the old cabin in that same park:This is Bryan's "Seriously?!" face: More flooded park/road: And more: This is the waterfall on the Des Plaines river, and it's really only impressive if you know what it is supposed to look like (much, much lower). But I thought I'd include it for those few of you who will appreciate it (Ryan and Amber!). There are also a bunch of basketballs/random stuff floating around that are not typical Riverside scenery: Note the soccer goals in this park: The bike trail leading into the park: The Riverside library: All of this water water everywhere unfortunately caused our dear friends the Paces and Flinns to have flooded basements (again!). They've been pumping water out like mad since last night and it's still tough to keep up with how much is coming in. So sad for their poor basements! We're staying high and dry up here on the 2nd floor, so we got to enjoy some quality time with baby Hannah this weekend while her parents worked on their basement. Baby Hannah loves playing with her Uncle Bry:

Well, that about wraps it up for this crazy weekend, but you can read more about the Chicago Flood here if you like.

Monday, September 1, 2008

For Labor Day weekend we went to Door County in celebration of our 3rd anniversary (a little late, but July 30th never seems to be a good time to get away). On our way up to Door County we passed through a whole lot of rural Wisconsin. It's definitely a different world! We actually saw a Piggly Wiggly- Sweet Home Alabama anybody? There was also a tractor made out of hay:And of course, we had to document Sheboygan for Uncle Dave.We stayed in Sturgeon Bay at an old farmhouse turned into a wonderful little bed and breakfast- complete with sheep and chickens!This is Bryan's sheep face:Shortly after this photo, that plain looking fence you see above shocked the daylights out of me. No warning signs to be found about it being an ELECTRIC fence, just the lingering pain for several hours after. We did not visit the sheep again. Every morning our day started with a basket of pure heaven delivered to our door. There was a different kind of bread or muffin with a fruit arrangement every day. Such a wonderful way to wake up.Here is one of our fancy little fruit concoctions- we named it Strawberry Soup:Three days went by quickly, but there were lots of cute shops and restaurants to eat at...... bike rides to be had... ... beaches to visit...... scenic overlooks to photograph...... a Michigan game to watch... ... kayaks to paddle... ... and of course, sunsets to enjoy... Ahh, the good life....